Notice of appeal: Part of ruling 'inaccurate'

Posted: Saturday, August 21, 2004

By Charles Shepardcharles.shepard@onlineathens.com

Georgia called a section of the NCAA's ruling on academic fraud, unethical conduct and improper player benefits by the men's basketball team "clearly inaccurate" and hopes to have three of the 16 penalties revoked in a notice of appeal filed Friday.

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The athletic association challenged the NCAA Committee on Infraction's description and rational of the violation, of the four cited in the Aug. 5 NCAA report, which dealt with the failure to report unauthorized, personal long-distance telephone calls six players made during 2001 road trips until July 2003.

Georgia has asked for an in-person hearing and appealed the four-year probation, loss of a scholarship over the next three seasons and the forfeiture of 30 wins from the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.

In its notice of appeal, UGA officials said, "The university agrees that the violation (concerning phone calls) occurred.

However, some of the information included ... is clearly inaccurate based on the record of the case. The information cited is also incomplete."

The notice continued, "The committee's inaccurate and incomplete understanding of the record of the case was further demonstrated by public comments made by the chair of the committee in announcing the results of the case. The university seeks to have the record corrected and the impact of the committee's error on the penalties imposed in the case reviewed on appeal."

Georgia athletic director Damon Evans was unavailable for comment or to detail which part of the contested violation was errant. The infractions committee found that the former players made long-distance phone calls totaling more than $1,500 , for which they did not pay.

Georgia has 30 days to file a full appeal. The NCAA could not confirm late Friday if it had received Georgia's notice. Once the full appeal is received, the NCAA has 30 days to respond.